FEDERAL CITY COUNCIL

CATALYSTfederalcitycouncil.org | 2017 Spring/Summer

D.C. Policy Center: Demographics Shape Urban Landscape Metro Reform Gaining Traction Chancellor Wilson Aims to Achieve Table of Contents Letter from the CEO and

Dear Friends,

Washington, D.C., is experiencing a period of dramatic transformation today that could have profound effects on the “I think the future is quite District in the future. Times like these call for the Federal City Council (FC2) and other community organizations to step bright in the District as up and to provide vital civic leadership. long as we have good FC2’s reputation for developing pioneering initiatives means it is leadership.” well placed to offer leadership. We are focused on addressing FC2’s reputation for developing current District concerns and ever mindful of a future that will require D.C. to be more dynamic, resilient and competitive. pioneering initiatives means it is TONYTalks with p. 6 well placed to offer leadership. In this Spring/Summer 2017 edition of Catalyst, we are pleased to share details about one of the FC2’s initiatives we believe will We are focused on addressing be integral to our city’s future: the D.C. Policy Center, a non- partisan, action-oriented think tank committed to advancing current District concerns and policies for a strong and vibrant District economy. ever mindful of a future that will The D.C. Policy Center, which launched in February 2017, will require D.C. to be more dynamic, inform local and regional policymaking by offering trusted data and analyses on the District’s economy and demography. Data- resilient and competitive. based tools and feedback will allow government leaders to determine if their incremental and substantive policies will lead to better performance and competitiveness.

Another important issue you’ll find in this edition ofCatalyst is a story about Metro. We take a closer look at the FC2’s proposal to put Metro into the hands of a reform board to ensure its long-term viability. As a city, we know what an effective control board can do to rebuild public confidence and trust, and we hope the same can be done for Metro.

We invite you to read our latest TONYTalks, which features a lively conversation with FC2 Trustee and friend Alice Rivlin. A respected leader, Alice has played central roles in the Executive Branch, as well as serving as the Founding Director of the Congressional Budget Office, Vice Chair of the Board and Chairman of the District of Columbia Financial Management Assistance Authority.

The measure of our activities, many of which are included in this edition of Catalyst, has been their quantifiable impact on the District and its residents. As we speed into 2017, the work and leadership of the FC2 remains as vital today as ever to the District and the region.

“Metro is effectively in the “I think the D.C. Policy “We need to make sure that Sincerely, middle of a death spiral. Center is really a national schools are places where We have a system that’s an model for how local business students can see themselves.” orphan, essentially.” groups can look at what are Chancellor Wilson p. 8 Anthony A. Williams Metro p. 2 established data and answer the questions of the day.” D.C. Policy Center p. 4 COVER: Photograph by Ted Eytan TABLE OF CONTENTS: Photograph by Ted Eytan

federalcitycouncil.org | 1 WMATA

At the FC2 Winter Board Meeting in February 2017, “The bottom line for us is we cannot sustain where CONTROL BOARD Mayor Muriel Bowser told the attending trustees we are without a functioning Metro,” says Bowser that the District stands ready to do what is of the District’s economy. “The District is going to at the Top of Regional Agenda needed to keep Metro open, but she pointed out be very involved in driving the conversation around that Maryland and Virginia would need to be funding and the safety commission, but at the end The loss of revenue and ridership, and the failure legislation would call for an amended WMATA involved if there is to be successful action at of the day Maryland and Virginia have got to pony of local jurisdictions to address Metro’s ongoing Compact, which would create a smaller, more the signatory level. up. There’s no way around it.” ■ problems, has compelled the Federal City Council effective governing body, embed efficiency and (FC2) to call for the appointment of an interim innovation into system operations and provide control board to oversee Metro operations. for predictable and reliable funding. Legislation being developed and offered by U.S. Reps. Barbara The FC2’s insistence on the five-member control Comstock, R-Va., and John Delaney, D-Md., contain Infrastructure DC Update: The Langston Initiative board for the Metropolitan Area Transit some principles that are consistent with the FC2’s Authority (WMATA) is a response to the ongoing proposal. Redevelopment of the three popular National Executive Director. “We want to make an decline of Metro and the threat of a failing Metro Park Service (NPS) golf courses in the District immediate impact on all of the courses at once. poses to the region’s mobility and economy. “Given the urgency of the situation and the of Columbia is believed to be imminent, thanks Rebuilding the sand traps, re-seeding sections, demonstrated lack of coordinated leadership, it to a draft Letter of Intent (LOI) between the NPS trimming back trees and making modest “Metro is effectively in the middle of a death is reasonable to assume that true reform will not and Infrastructure DC (IDC). IDC is the Federal improvements to greens, turf and irrigation spiral,” said FC2 Deputy Executive Director Emeka take place without an interim control entity to City Council’s (FC2) independent nonprofit that systems.” Moneme, noting that the interim entity could govern Metro, safeguard its finances and get it will deliver sustainable, performance-based govern Metro, safeguard its finances and get it back on track,” says Anthony Williams, FC2 CEO infrastructure projects. Simultaneously, IDC and its partners are back on track. “We have a system that’s an and Executive Director. “With so much at stake, we working with the District government to plan orphan, effectively.” believe that immediate action is needed and we The LOI encompasses multiple NPS facilities: a long-term investment strategy to complete must thoughtfully pursue this option.” the historic Langston Golf Course, the Rock a full renovation of the facilities, including the The control board would take over the duties of the Creek Golf Course and the redesign of greens, tees, fairways and bunkers, 16-member WMATA board in an effort to remedy Moneme says the advantages of the control board Golf Course (Haines Point), as well as the tennis new irrigation systems and improved amenities. the system’s failures, while also ensuring that are its singular focus on the stewardship of Metro facilities at East Potomac. This work will dramatically improve the quality federal and local subsidies continue unabated. The and the confidence it would engender in local of the courses and elevate their standing board would be similar to the entity that oversaw jurisdictions and Congress. The board would have With its partners, IDC has begun the process as recreational assets in the District. At the the District in the late 1990s. the authority to pursue the restructuring of Metro of negotiating a lease that will allow it to make same time, IDC and its partners will work with operations, better align labor and management short-term improvements to the courses. community members in the Carver-Langston The FC2’s petition has gained traction among around increased productivity and other actions “In the short term, the work will be very neighborhood to foster positive and equitable regional leaders who believe that a control board that lead to a more sustainable Metro. tactical,” says Emeka Moneme, FC2 Deputy economic, educational and health outcomes. ■ may be established through legislation. The

2 | Catalyst | 2017 Spring/Summer Photograph by Larry Levine federalcitycouncil.org | 3 A Decade of Demographic Change in D.C. D.C.Thinking POLICY Broadly About CENTER By D.C. Policy Center Fellow Kate Rabinowitz the District and the Region Adeptly analyzing the urban landscape, especially our city,” notes the initial piece that introduces the one as complex as the District of Columbia, can D.C. Policy Center to the public. “We must pay more help produce data-driven insights and intellectually attention to our position within the metro region. rigorous policy prescriptions to address the city’s We are administratively separate, but when it comes thorniest problems. to jobs and people, we are deeply connected to our broader economic unit.” The D.C. Policy Center, the latest initiative from the Federal City Council (FC2), is committed to The region has considerable strengths, according the task. It will use data to study every feature of to the D.C. Policy Center’s research. They include: its the District, from its economic performance to its growing economy; its numerous high-skilled workers demographic diversity to the contours of its distinct (on par with the San Francisco Bay area) that are neighborhoods. spread throughout the region; and residential Source: U.S. Census employment that is growing faster than the jobs “I think the D.C. Policy Center is really a national available. The District’s economic base is also more model for how local business groups can look at expandable than its limited geography would what are established data and relevant benchmarks suggest, and population growth has been among the and answer the questions of the day,” says Anthony strongest in the nation, lifting incomes and demand Williams, FC2 CEO and Executive Director. “What’s for services. Additionally, the city has invested Source: U.S. Census Bureau the framework in which we set the right expectations wisely in affordable housing (but more could be What information there is available to policymakers and thoughtful analyses so that policies that might for a business and the right expectations for done). tends to focus on inequalities, which are highly harm the District economy, even if well intentioned, government in terms of policies and practices important but don’t tell the whole story. The D.C. may appropriately be reconsidered,” says Charles that promote growth in the economy, jobs and But there are drawbacks. The District’s economy Policy Center’s role is to look broadly at the impacts “Sandy” Wilkes, Chairman of the D.C. Policy economically livable cities?” remains too specialized around and sensitive to of policies, investments and socioeconomic trends Center’s Board of Directors and an FC2 Trustee.“ The changes in the federal government; jurisdictional on the D.C. government, businesses and economy. D.C. Policy Center hopes to play an equal role in Established in 2016, the D.C. Policy Center is a fragmentation between D.C., Maryland and Virginia determining if specific policy proposals do indeed non-partisan think tank pledged to advancing threatens long-term growth; and transportation “The D.C. Policy Center will provide our elected pass the test of first do no harm to the District’s policies to ensure a dynamic regional economy. By policy is weak regionally when it needs to be officials with reliable data, impeccable research economy and its tax base.” ■ offering groundbreaking data and analyses, the D.C. strong to ensure the viability of Metro. Moreover, Policy Center can better inform local and regional policymakers are quick to ignore the beneficial policymaking and practice. forces of a competitive economy, and protectionism Short Takes: Further Analysis from the D.C. Policy Center is on the rise. Housing choices are shrinking for In Money for Nothing: D.C. Businesses Pay a Technology Fee but Get Very Little in Return, Fellow David Bishop With its official launch, the D.C. Policy Center middle-income families at this time, and there are revealed that the District is collecting millions in business tech fees, but it has invested very little in technology unveiled its charter, Broadening Our Thinking on the few efforts to collaborate on cross-border issues that supports applications for licenses and permits. District: The Framework for the D.C. Policy Center, a such as encouraging workforce development and document assessing the economic and demographic strengthening the social safety nets. Fellow Becky Strauss reports that D.C. Leads in Anti-poverty Policies. The District’s investments on behalf of patterns that shape the District and the metropolitan vulnerable citizens are significant, and they have increased living standards compared to other large urban area. The analysis shows that jobs and residents “We will look at proposals and different policy areas in the . are distributed across the region with people and positions through the lens of economics and businesses choosing the most advantageous demographics,” said Yesim Sayin Taylor, the D.C. Executive Director Yesim Sayin Taylor asks, Can Fiscal Risks be Eliminated with More Taxing and More locations, and jurisdictional fragmentation in the Policy Center’s Executive Director. “Our intent is to Spending? The bigger risk facing the District’s economy is not from reductions in federal grants, but a federally region, including the District’s own government, replace the national organizations that bring their engineered recession that could follow reductions in the federal workforce. weakens policymaking. own agendas to our city with an organization that is Senior Fellow Kate Rabinovitz explores Why Visualizing Open Data Isn’t Enough, exposing how open data can focused on the District and the region. We will ask lead to poor analysis if the analysts do not consider how data is created and how it can be biased by self- “Our policies, investments and actions reverberate how and whether something works for our city and reporting. across the metro region, pushing or pulling how to apply it.” businesses, workers and residents in and out of To learn more, visit the D.C. Policy Center (dcpolicycenter.org) and subscribe to the content.

4 | Catalyst | 2017 Spring/Summer Photograph by Ted Eytan federalcitycouncil.org | 5 There were deep cuts at the University of the District of neighborhood. You end up with a problem for schools Columbia (UDC) and, in retrospect, they were too deep. and with crime. If you can, without displacing people, Tony Williams in conversation with you need to recreate the neighborhood so it’s more TONY: We lost some important things. I think 90.1 was mixed-income. one of the great jazz stations in the country, and it Alice Rivlin had to be sold. That was the UDC station. There were TONY: I think we have a big opportunity with painful cuts. regionalism where the parties’ interests align. Eighty Anthony Williams and TONYTalks guest Alice Rivlin years ago, if the suburbs wanted to negotiate with have a history together. A friendship forged during the ALICE: In 1999, when you became mayor, things D.C., we didn’t want to because the city was doing chaotic early days of the D.C. control board, the two were already getting a lot better. Some things had so well. Why negotiate with the suburbs on sharing have worked side-by-side to help the District weather happened that were, partly, the results of the national of responsibilities? Then when you roll up to the some of its most dire financial troubles, and then economy turning around. The country had gotten more time of the control board, the suburbs didn’t want to watched it soar as a result of their efforts. prosperous, and the District was part of that. negotiate with the city. D.C. is coming back, and we’re approaching parity again. Now is the time to really An FC2 Trustee, Dr. Rivlin has had a notable career in TONY: There are consequences and ramifications that have conversations between D.C. and the suburbs on public service. She served as Director of the Office of you have to deal with [when you have development housing and health care. Management and Budget (OMB) and Vice Chair of the and growth]. The good part of gentrification is when Federal Reserve Board. She was the Founding Director Anthony Williams Alice Rivlin I’m on the bus going to work, and kids are going to ALICE: A prime example of where we ought to school, they see me. They get exposed to role models. cooperate is Metro. Surely a new way of financing of the Congressional Budget Office, and served as Commission report was not given to Mayor Barry but an Assistant Secretary of the U.S. Department of The downside is the displacement. How do we Metro involves all of the jurisdictions and the federal his successor. They didn’t follow the recommendations develop a housing strategy that gets us out in front of government, and that could put us in a much stronger Health, Education and Welfare. A Senior Fellow with assiduously but it did lay the groundwork. the Brookings Institution, she served as Chair of displacement? situation…I think the future is quite bright in the District the District of Columbia Financial Management and as long as we have good leadership. Cities are actually TONY: Now we roll the tape forward and you’re the Assistance Authority from 1998 to 2001. ALICE: In so many neighborhoods, people who lived coming back all over the United States. Some are in director of OMB. The District is in distress. How did you there a long time have been priced out. If they own their desperate trouble like Detroit, but, in general, people come up with the notion of a control board? TONY: Many people think your work on behalf of the house, then they benefited in terms of its rising value. are rediscovering city living. Problems like gentrification District starts with the control board, but it began much If they were renters, the rents went up all around them are good problems to have as long as you handle them ALICE: The thinking was we’ve got to do something. earlier. The control board was instituted to address and they couldn’t afford to live in that neighborhood. right. The period of cities decaying and emptying out We can’t let the nation’s capital go bankrupt. That never That is a serious problem, especially in the rapidly is over. What the District has to do is keep being a a series of problems that were really called out and actually happened but it was pretty close. The nonprofits projected by the Rivlin Commission. How unfortunately gentrifying neighborhoods like Columbia Heights. good place to live and work, and make real efforts to in the District were actually providing the services keep a very diverse population here and respond to prophetic you were. without getting paid. It was a pretty desperate situation. TONY: We used to have problems with an incentive everybody’s needs. What normally happens with a city in trouble is the economy in that everything was declining. The ALICE: That takes us back to the late 1980s when state takes over and that had happened in a number of neighborhoods had to have prices stabilized to prevent TONY: I think the trick is leveraging the might and then-Mayor realized the District was jurisdictions, New York, and Pennsylvania. But we going to get into trouble financially because it had a big abandonment. We had to set a floor. Now we’ve power of the federal government. It’s always going didn’t have a state. The federal government had to flipped and have to provide a ceiling. What are the to be powerful. We want to use it to diversify our downtown office boom that was coming to an end. do something. He had used the revenue that came from this good techniques to provide a ceiling? We put a percentage economy in cyber-security and health care. We’ll tax situation to hire a lot of people and provide a lot of the recordation tax into the housing production always be the federal city, carving out our own identity TONY: With the support of the control board, we were of services in the District. If the tax revenues fell off, trust fund. It came from the churning of real estate, as local Washington. able to bring in a really good team of people to get the and it was redistributive. Can we use some of that to he knew there was going to be trouble, so he created finances back on track. I remember a yeoman’s effort in a commission on the fiscal future of the District of maintain affordability with lower prices? We’re learning There are three cycles of the American city. We had 1996 that we had to get this fixed. It was a huge team a lot about how to do neighborhood revitalization and the tremendous growth of the American city, then Columbia. I was chair of it. We looked at the situation effort. It was an exciting time in my life. and found that the mayor was right. how to prevent displacement. There is good news in the decline of the American city, and now we see the D.C. where you’ve had one-to-one replacement of low- third cycle where the cities are coming back again. The ALICE: There were difficult moments, particularly for Dr. The situation wasn’t really stable. We discovered the income units, but again that’s very expensive. That’s the District is firmly in that third cycle now.■ Andrew Brimmer (the first control board Chairman) and mayor’s challenge. We all learn from one another as we phenomenon that you, Tony, rediscovered later on, his team. The control board was perceived as outsiders which was that tax collection in the District of Columbia evolve forward. The FC2 thanks Alice Rivlin for sharing her thoughts coming in to take over. That’s never good. They had to with us for this edition of TONYTalks. Please note, was not managed very well. The big problem with the do some difficult things. They had to cut spending and District is that it’s prohibited from taxing the income of ALICE: One of the difficult things has been this interview has been edited for length. Please visit cut payroll. They had the right priorities. They protected concentrated poverty. The District had and still federalcitycouncil.org for Tony’s full conversation with people who work here but don’t live here. That’s unique social services and the most vulnerable people, and to the District. All states can tax nonresident income has some public housing that is really having the Alice Rivlin. they protected the schools. But some things got fairly effect of concentrating very low-income people in a but the District cannot. The situation was fairly dire. That drastically cut that had to be repaired afterward.

6 | Catalyst | 2017 Spring/Summer federalcitycouncil.org | 7 Anacostia Waterfront Trust – A Significant Step Forward The (NPS) released intrinsically valuable in many ways, and Anacostia in February the much-awaited draft of its Park incorporates more than nine linear miles of DCPS Chancellor Antwan Wilson Management Plan/Environmental Assessment for public riverfront. , the 1200-acre national park that Touts the Importance of Strategic School Design and Increased Collaboration stretches along both sides of the . If the appropriate planning and investment takes place, says Doug Siglin, the Trust’s Executive “It’s an important milestone,” says Anthony Director, Anacostia Park could ignite economic Williams, CEO and Executive Director of the opportunity in adjacent neighborhoods and unite Antwan Wilson, the new Chancellor for DC Public “We have made tremendous progress at DCPS,” Federal City Council. “The new plan lays out the people of the District on both sides of the Schools (DCPS), believes applying the principles of says Anthony Williams, CEO and Executive Director the contours for the work we’re going to do and Anacostia River, which has inadvertently served strategic school design could be advantageous in of the Federal City Council. “We’ve had three great gives us a sense of the National Park Service’s as a major historical dividing line. improving struggling District schools and providing chancellors now. We look forward to working with priorities. Now we’ve got a playing field on which greater educational opportunity for children and parents Chancellor Wilson to continue to build on the good to work with them to envision and implement With so much at stake, the District has responded across the city. work of previous chancellors.” specific improvements.” aggressively to the need for more comprehensive coordination of the Anacostia Waterfront plans “When you’re trying to improve the school, you don’t Wilson is a 2014 graduate of the Broad Superintendent The NPS will issue a final management plan and initiatives. The DC Office of Planning has have to guess about what we need to do,” says Academy, a two-year training program that educates later this year after it receives input from local appointed a Waterfront Lead to convene an Wilson. “We have choice data [which includes] school top-level leaders committed to driving dramatic stakeholders on the draft. The plan is intended to Anacostia Waterfront Interagency Working Group. achievement data and performance data. We’re going improvements in urban public education. He believes clarify how future investments and activities will The DC Department of Energy and Environment to duplicate those types of opportunities. When you do that several DCPS initiatives—study-abroad programs, be placed on the landscape and will serve as the hired an Anacostia Coordinator focused on river that, those schools need support for the transformation extended-year schools and exposing middle school guidance document for the next 15 to 20 years. cleanup. The District will also complete this year to move from one type of model to another.” students to STEM programs—are providing students a progress report on the implementation of the with the tools for excellence. Anacostia Park plays a central role in the 2003 Anacostia Waterfront Initiative, which will The process of strategic school design emphasizes geography, social history and future development highlight opportunities moving forward. ■ merit in teaching, personalized learning and support BRIEFS CATALYST of the District. Urban riverfront property is for students, and creative, cost-effective solutions that “We need to make result in long-term school improvement. The path to City Resilience Agenda-Setting Workshop that goal is through excellence and equity, says Wilson, sure that schools noting that proficiency is a floor and not the ceiling. The District has taken crucial steps toward the priorities, actions and metrics for a resilience are places where building a more resilient city by enlisting local plan, one of the requirements for 100RC Shortly after assuming his position on February 1, stakeholders to describe potential threats and member cities. Wilson spent time visiting schools, meeting with students can see social challenges the District will face in coming teachers, students and parents, and exploring what themselves.” years—and to outline what strategies and tools The plan, which will be drafted over the next year, is working in District schools and what is not. Wilson must be employed to mitigate them. will emphasize building partnerships and alliances says he was impressed with the high degree of talent as well as developing new financing mechanisms in District schools and the commitment for public The Federal City Council (FC2) joined District for the city. Holistic and action-oriented, it will education. According to the 2013 and 2015 National In terms of equity, one of Wilson’s strategies is to leaders and local stakeholders at the 100 Resilient underscore the importance of meeting the needs Assessments of Educational Progress, DCPS is the ensure students’ individual experiences are respected Cities (100RC) Resilience Agenda-Setting of vulnerable populations. fastest-improving urban school district in the nation. and then determine how faculty can develop Workshop in February 2017. The workshop was approaches that better meet student needs. “We need one of the District’s first public engagements The District will name a Chief Resilience “It really takes all of us to ensure every child has to make sure that schools are places where students since becoming a member of the 100RC network Officer (CRO) shortly. The CRO will lead the the best opportunity to make all things possible in can see themselves and they’re also the right places last year. city’s resilience efforts and continue to engage their lives,” Wilson says. “I believe excellence can for students,” says Wilson, noting that diversity is a stakeholders in completing the comprehensive be achieved together. I’m very interested in thinking critical objective. “The FC2 was a catalyst in working with the through how all the parties can come together toward District to get its designation as a Resilient City,” resilience strategy. a common north star.” Wilson is optimistic about his chances of working with says Anthony Williams, FC2 CEO and Executive leaders of the Washington’s Teachers Union. “We Director. “We will be working with them as an ally Washington, D.C., was selected from more than Mayor Muriel Bowser recruited Wilson from the won’t always agree. The question is, for me, is how do to get that to fulfillment.” 1,000 cities worldwide to become part of the Oakland Unified School District, where he had been we behave when we don’t agree?” said Wilson. “For 100RC network, a non-profit underwritten by the superintendent for more than two years. Prior to my part, I intend to be respectful and professional, Along with considering potential challenges to the Rockefeller Foundation. Through its participation, serving in California, he spent six years as Assistant and try to work for solutions that don’t require us to city, the workshop’s goal was to outline resilience- the District receives technical support and Superintendent for Post-Secondary Readiness with the compromise our principles, but try to behave in a way building tools to address those challenges. The resources to fund the CRO position, and to Denver Public Schools. that we respect the need that a labor organization may workshop also began the process of identifying develop and implement a resilience strategy for have for whatever they’re trying to do.” ■ handling natural and man-made challenges. ■

8 | Catalyst | 2017 Spring/Summer federalcitycouncil.org | 9 A CATALYST FOR PROGRESS IN THE NATION’S CAPITAL

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CHAIRMAN’S CIRCLE OFFICERS

RICK ADAMS THE HONORABLE THOMAS M. DAVIS JAKE JONES KATHERINE BRADLEY President Vice President – Federal Relations CHERRIE WANNER DOGGETT W. EDWARD WALTER DAVID LAWSON ROBERT J. FLANAGAN Chairman Vice President MICHAEL J. GLOSSERMAN JOSHUA B. BERNSTEIN RUSSELL C. LINDNER MICHAEL N. HARRELD Vice President – Membership Engagement Vice President – Strategic Planning D. JEFFREY HIRSCHBERG CHARLES A. MILLER TED LEONSIS KATHERINE BRADLEY Secretary RUSSELL C. LINDNER CHARLES A. MILLER ROBERT J. FLANAGAN LINDA RABBITT Treasurer CHRISTOPHER J. NASSETTA Vice President B. FRANCIS SAUL DONALD E. GRAHAM SHARON PERCY ROCKEFELLER CARY SUMMERS Vice President – Nominating Vice President – Membership WILLIAM VON HOENE JR. MICHAEL N. HARRELD THE HONORABLE ANTHONY A. WILLIAMS W. EDWARD WALTER Vice President Chief Executive Officer and Executive Director BRIEN WHITE

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